Cryptocurrency Market Could Collapse If Bitcoin’s Anonymous Creator Revealed

The cryptocurrency market could destabilise if Bitcoin’s anonymous creator is revealed.

While taking on a dip over the past week, the price of Bitcoin is still astronomically high compared to years prior, currently standing at more than $46,000 for one Bitcoin.

Thanks to growing investment and endorsement from the likes of Elon Musk, other companies and banks, the digital currency is slowly surging into online ubiquity. However, the market could be rattled if Bitcoin’s founder(s) is revealed.

Ahead of digital currency exchange firm Coinbase going public on the Nasdaq stock exchange, it filed documents to the Securities Exchange Commission citing the various risk factors, one of which concerned the source of Bitcoin.

The IPO filing explains, ‘Our business may be adversely affected if the markets for Bitcoin and Ethereum deteriorate or if their prices decline… [in the event of] the identification of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person or persons who developed Bitcoin, or the transfer of Satoshi’s Bitcoins.’

It’s unclear who or where Nakamoto is. Some believe he’s a Japanese man in his 40s, some believe it’s a group of unknown individuals using the name as a guise.

However, Nakamoto is believed to have more than one million in Bitcoin, which would be valued at around $55 billion – that’s 5% of all Bitcoin in existence. In the event this mysterious creator is dead, those coins could be inaccessible. If he decided to transfer his stockpile, it could destabilise the entire cryptoeconomy, with the price likely to collapse.

Elsewhere in the document, the company reiterates the fragile nature of the market, writing, ‘Our operating results have and will significantly fluctuate due to the highly volatile nature of crypto.’

It adds, ‘All of our sources of revenue are dependent on crypto assets and the broader cryptoeconomy. Due to the highly volatile nature of the cryptoeconomy and the prices of crypto assets, our operating results have, and will continue to, fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter in accordance with market sentiments and movements in the broader cryptoeconomy.’

Over the past year, Bitcoin has seen a 400% rise – however, some investors believe the heated interest may be causing a bubble that will burst in the future. Also, the complex means of accessing the currency, often via a digital wallet with a dense security key, have continually caused issues.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote, ‘When I first read the Bitcoin whitepaper back in 2010, I realised this computer science breakthrough might be the key to unlock this vision of the future.’

He added, ‘Cryptocurrency could provide the core tenets of economic freedom to anyone: property rights, sound money, free trade, and the ability to work how and where they want.’

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